Run, Run...You Rascal

“So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
-James 4:7

There are some verses in the Bible that at first glance don’t seem like much. But look a little closer and the verse becomes something entirely different. It becomes profound and weighty in the battle over sin in our lives. First I need to establish the ‘fact’ we all battle sin, even if you don’t you sin and are liar according to 1 John. “If you know what is good and choose not to do it, you sin”, says James 4:17. So I believe all Christians battle sin in their lives and many times we are in a losing battle. It seems like many today, learn to live with the sin and guilt….it just seems easier.

But here is the problem with this idea, defeat. Once you reach this point, you are defeated. The problem is the bible says we are victorious,
Romans 8:37 “No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us!” So what is the solution? James comes back to me, “So submit to God”…before I do anything else I must submit to God. So if I try to resist the devil without submitting to God, I am in big trouble, the devil will not be the one fleeing, it will be me!

How many of us try to take on our own sin, without submitting to God at all. “I don’t need any help; I can handle this myself…only to burn up in a fiery crash, that if we are lucky doesn’t kill those closest to us. Humility, humbling ourselves before a loving and gracious Lord and telling him we need help….

It is from this position we can resist the devil, it is from this position, we can resist the devil and he will flee from us. I don’t know about you, I hate walking around in defeat. I hate losing period; I want victory in my life. And I love the word flee…it’s like his hair is on fire or something…great sense of urgency…I like that…run, run you rascal…does the devil have hair? Not sure if it matters…but I like the idea of him RUNNING….

-ps